Trafficking 'like new slave trade'
Human trafficking into Britain amounts to a resurgence of the "slave trade", MPs have warned.
The Home Affairs Committee said there are at least 5,000 victims, mostly women and children, living in this country.
Most are made to work in the sex trade, or forced to beg and committee chairman Keith Vaz said authorities lack awareness of the problem.
The committee has warned around 60% of trafficked children held in local council homes go missing and are never found.
Some homes are used by traffickers as "holding pens" for their victims until they are ready to pick them up.
Despite the scale of the problem, there are only 35 places for victims in safe houses.
The report also highlights "major gaps" in awareness and training among staff at the UK Border Agency.
Mr Vaz said the authorities lacked an understanding of the problem.
"This is not immigration crime and cannot be dealt with as such," he said. "What we are seeing is in effect a resurgence of a type of slave trade, yet we have no good information on the scale of the problem, enforcement is patchy, prosecution rates are low and there is little protection for victims."
